Brent Knopf Leaves Menomena

Today Menomena finally announced that Brent Knopf will no longer be a part of the trio. After years of tirelessly fighting to reconcile the ideas of three brilliant, talented, and strong-willed artists, Brent finally threw in the towel today to pursue less heartbreaking creative endeavors. Menomena has made no secret of the tumultuous recording process that resulted in 2010's incredible Mines. Even though the push and pull of conflicting personalities and working styles translated into fiercely original music, it did not seem like a healthy or sustainable collaborative environment for any of the people involved. It is sad to see a founding member of such a unique band move on, but I hope that the personnel change will help ease the tension that has been building within the crystalline structure of Menomena over the past 10 years. I wish Brent, Danny, and Justin all the best in their individual and collective pursuits.


Fans of Brent's will be pleased to know that he has finished producing an AMAZING solo album for Ramona Falls' guitarist, Matt Sheehy. Matt is hoping to release this album in early 2011 (band name and album title are still a secret at this point), and if you are a fan of Ramona Falls, I can guarantee you will enjoy this record. It has absolutely blown me away.


Brent is currently in the studio producing the second album for South African band Dear Reader. This currently untitled album will be released in late 2011 on Souterrain Transmissions in Europe. I haven't heard most of the songs yet, but the few I have heard are sounding beautiful.

If producing 3 albums in the last year isn't enough Knopf for you, Brent has also begun preliminary work on a new Ramona Falls album!! RF played a new song (presumably from the forthcoming album) called "Brevony" at their sold out New Years Eve show at Mississippi Studios, in Portland, OR. It was a monster rocker, and left the crowd dazzled and dancing. It is hard to believe this song was originally submitted for Mines and didn't make the cut! Another forthcoming RF song (and Mines reject) "Bowling", might just be the best song that Brent has ever created.

Although it is sad that incredible songs like "Rose", "Monkey's Back", "Wet & Rusting", "Evil Bee", and "Killemall" will never again be performed with Brent's unique and haunting voice in the lead, I hope that Menomena will continue to tour and make excellent music without him. I am hopeful that Menomena and Brent can both thrive in their individual creative spaces, and produce twice as much breathtakingly original material as before!

HanUKkah

I spent most of Hanukkah on tour with Brent in the U.K! Ironically, most of my photos involve Christmas decorations, since Hanukkah adornments were surprisingly rare.

I arrived in London and had a few hours for sightseeing on my own. I came across this amazing window display in a fancy shoppe in Soho. They created 3 Dimensional versions of classic paintings, but displayed them within a frame. It created a really interesting, surreal effect as you walked by the windows (peripherally, you would think that you're seeing a flat painting, but the perspective kept changing). Here are a couple of my favorites...



I wandered over to Trafalgar Square, where they were in the process of decorating for the holidays.

Pieces for a giant menorah lay scattered in the foreground, while a crane helps put up an enormous Xmas tree in the background.

I'm not sure if this massive ship in a bottle was special for the holidays or not, but it was really cool!

There was a transit strike the day I arrived in London, so I walked about 5 miles with my suitcase and backpack to meet up with Brent at the venue in Brixton. It was interesting to check out a less touristy part of London, and totally worth it for the chance to see Brent's handsome face! When I arrived at the venue, I discovered the worst potato chip flavor of all time...


Menomena opened for the National at the O2 Academy to a sold out crowd that night. I got to watch their set from the wings of the stage. Sufjan Stevens was in London for some reason and made a guest appearance on stage with the National. I was SO excited when he showed up at the after party, too, but was too shy to talk to him {kicking myself}. Oh well. We'll just have to talk Michigan/Brooklyn next time, Sufjan.


The next day Menomena was headlining their own show in London, so that gave us some free time to explore the city in the morning. Brent and I met up with our friend Naima, and explored Covent Gardens. It was really cute and fun. Then Brent and I split off to meet up with our friend Chris for coffee. We opted to skip the Starbucks, and instead go to the seemingly local Costa Coffee shop. It wasn't until our friend Chris arrived that we learned that Costa is the Starbucks of Europe (even though there are also regular Starbucks in the UK). It's hard not to be a stupid American when you're in a foreign country!

Even though we were thousands of miles from home, we still managed to see a familiar face at the coffee shop...

Mark Hamilton (husband of my friend Andrea, father of Scarlett, and bass player extraordinaire in Ash.)

Later that night, Chris treated us to drinks at one of his favorite bars. Brent got the award for ordering the drink with the fanciest glass!

This glass was so fancy, that it could not even stand up without it's wooden holder, prompting the question "How many drunk people have broken this fancy glass?"

We spent the official first night of Hanukkah in Manchester. Although it was a very busy day with Menomena appearing on the BBC before the show, Brent and I managed to sneak away long enough to check out the world's coolest library... The John Rylands Library.

The library displayed many ancient books behind glass cases.

Unfortunately we didn't have very much time to explore the whole library, but I would love to go back and see what other treasures the magnificent library holds.


The 2nd night of Hanukkah, we spent in Glasgow, Scotland. This was my first time in Scotland, and we were welcomed by rolling hills covered with snow.

Brent and I visited the main square and shopping area of downtown Glasgow. We rode on my favorite carnival ride, the swinging chairs, and looked at all of the festive holiday decorations and watched people ice skate.

Our favorite decorations were across the arcades around the GOMA (Glasgow's Museum of Modern art). They draped strings of lights across the building tops to form a canopy of glowing, floating twinkles. It was so magical to walk through that space (especially with some cotton candy). Brent and I both took note of how they did it for potential future application in Brent's backyard. Wouldn't that be amazing for summer parties?



That night, Menomena played at a venue called The Arches. It was a strange, cavernous hall divided into multiple performance spaces. The ceilings consisted of high arching tunnels that created fascinating echos. I was really impressed with Fritz, Menomena's sound man and tour manager, for handling the sound so beautifully in that seemingly difficult and unusual space.





The 3rd night of Hanukkah, we visited Liverpool. We didn't have very much time to explore the Hometown of the Beatles, but we did see some crazy street lamps outside the venue.



Also, after the show we met some of the funniest dudes from the whole tour. Brent likes to draw little pictures for people who ask for autographs. One fan asked for a sexy armadillo drawing. The fan in line behind him, not to be outdone, said to Brent "I like sexy stuff, too." This prompted Brent to create my favorite autograph of all time...


The 4th night of Hanukkah was last stop on the tour, in Leeds. We got a chance to visit the vast car-free downtown shopping loop, and saw a disco ball Christmas tree!




Brent and I got to spend the 5th night of Hanukkah together in Slough (the London suburb near Heathrow where the British version of "The Office" takes place). We had dinner at the 3rd oldest Inn in London, The Ostrich, and found out after our meal that it is haunted! Check out the history page on their website to find out about all of the murders that took place there. Creepy!

The 6th-8th nights of Hanukkah I spent back home in New York, and celebrated with Brent via Skype. We lit the Menorahsaurus, as usual.

On the road with Menomena

Last week, I had the privilege of joining Portland, OR-based indie rock geniuses, Menomena, on the east coast leg of their current US tour. Not being one to sit idle, I quickly snatched up the role of "merch girl." Although touring seems like the best part of being in a rock band, it is a lot of work! Even just setting up/tearing down and manning the merch booth left me pretty exhausted by the end of the week. Nevertheless, it was really cool to experience life on the road alongside such a talented group of musicians.

I met up with Brent and the boys in Boston at a new and fabulous venue called the Royale. It had an old-time ballroom feel, complete with chandeliers, suits of armor, and balcony views.

Menomena is touring with fellow Portlanders Tu Fawning and Brooklyn rockers Suckers. Both bands are excellent, and feature a variety of multitasking musicians. Not only were these openers great on stage, but they were also friendly and fun to tour with.

The crowd in Boston was incredibly enthusiastic and vocal. When Menomena started playing "Evil Bee", the girl behind me shouted "This is MY favorite song ever!" then {perhaps drunkenly} shoved me and everyone in front of me out of the way so she could witness the performance from a closer proximity. It made me smile to see such an unbridled passion for music.

Next we headed to NYC where Menomena packed out Webster Hall. The show included a special guest appearance by the Awesome Homeless Dude that stars in Menomena's mini music video for "Dirty Cartoons". Awesome Homeless Dude wheeled his cart onto the stage, and began setting up his invisible drums alongside Menomena's real drummer, Danny Siem. He alternated between swigging a tallboy of Coors Light out of a brown paper bag, and setting up additional invisible symbols and toms. Once the drums kicked in, AHD drummed in perfect time next to Danny, and even continued to keep time when Danny had to stop drumming to readjust his microphone. This show was reviewed by the New York Times!!


It should also be noted that Danny has 2 baby heads mounted on his drum kit this tour. Each head is fitted with a midi contact that triggers a drum sample during "Dirty Cartoons". If you get a chance to see Menomena live, make sure to look out for Danny hitting the baby heads to trigger the samples. It's fun (if you're cool with plastic baby child abuse)!


The next stop was Jerky's in Providence, Rhode Island. This show was sadly under attended, but drew a few super fans that made up for the lack of quantity with high quality energy and support. One particularly enthusiastic fan named Sai (pronounced Say) was invited to show off her killer dance moves on stage with the band. Brent then began to play Lionel Richie's "Say You, Say Me", which delighted the crowd. Another super fan named Kyle took over 700 photos of the show!

Providence turns out to be a very strange town. Bars close around 2am, and the venue was just down the street from a big nightclub. It seems that people are not too happy about having to go home at 2, so police officers mounted on horses ride through the streets and try to force drunken fools to go home. Instead, the crowd fights back, and the scene looks like something out of the wild west. As we were loading out, we witnessed the aftermath of the rowdiness. It was slightly scary, to be honest. Especially because while I was guarding the gear on the street, strangers kept yelling propositions at me from their cars. I had to put my tough-girl-from-Brooklyn face on. Luckily we made it out of there without any real issue.




The next stop was in Suckers' hometown of Milford, CT at the Daniel Street Club. The guys that work at this venue are so unbelievably nice. They treated us to a delicious dinner prepared by the restaurant across the street, and the upstairs greenroom also doubled as a recording studio! Unfortunately, this show was also pretty low in the attendance department, but it was really fun to meet Quinn and Brian's parents. They were so into it!

The next day, we headed back to NYC for some promo gigs. First Menomena played live on WNYC's Soundcheck. You can hear the entire performance here...

http://beta.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/2010/oct/04/studio-menomena/

Then they headed over to AOL to film a Session performance. This is not available yet, but should be up on AOL's homepage in a few weeks.

Menomena's next stop was Philadelphia. They had an early morning appearance on NPR's World Cafe, and then we headed over to the First Unitarian Church for a completely unique show experience. The concert took place in the beautiful sanctuary of the church. The reverberant sound of the space gave the entire show an eerie, angelic quality which was probably a nightmare for Jake (Menomena's brilliant soundman/tour manager), but was a real treat for me. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the former religious-turned-atheistic trio perform in a house of worship. Brent and Danny mimicked their own religious transformations by playing a popular Christian song as a mash-up with The Steve Miller Band's "The Joker." A fan caught the performance on video here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertfrancis/5057682298/


My final stop with Menomena was at Washington DC's famed 9:30 Club. The venue definitely lived up to the hype, with 9:30's signature cupcakes waiting for us in a fancy-pants dressing room. The venue had a delicious menu, as well as a much needed washer/dryer for the bands to do some laundry while they sound checked.

Here in D.C., I finally got to see Menomena's visionary lighting rig, constructed by Bass Player Justin Harris. Each of the band member's amps and monitors sat atop Plexiglass light boxes that changed colors based on drum beats and keyboard midi triggers. The effect was beautifully programmed by Justin, and left the audience to enjoy yet another layer of Menomena's deep creativity.

All in all, I had a blast on the road. As a music appreciator (but not a music maker), I never thought I'd have the chance to go on tour. Although it is often more grueling and less glamorous than it appears, it is still interesting to traverse the country and see how different groups of fans react to the same music. I'm looking forward to touring with them again in the UK and Australia (I hope).

Menomena on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!

Menomena played an incredible rendition of Killemall on Monday's episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The guys all looked and sounded amazing. Congrats on your TV debut!

Super Awesome Homeless Dude! (Menomena Dirty Cartoons)

Dear Internet,

Please help me make this hilarious video I worked on with Trevor McMahan for Menomena's "Dirty Cartoons" go viral.



Sincerely,

KB

Menomena "Mines"- a totally biased record review

Guess who is getting the 2nd ever Karte Blanch Blue Ribbon?? No, not me, but that was a good guess. This KBBR (and tallboy of PBR) goes to Portland Indie rock trio, Menomena, for their glorious new album, Mines.

The album represents a progression for the band. It is definitely their most polished and grown up sounding record, to date. Because all 3 members work in (relative) isolation, the listener gets 3 different points of view combined into a single album. The result is a wildly creative and gorgeous album that takes you from head banging, to crying alone in your bedroom in the span of less than an hour.

Of course, in great Menomena tradition, the packaging for this record is amazing! Their previous records have been packaged in origami, flip books, & Grammy nominated artwork by Craig Thompson. When you unfold the CD or LP case for Mines, it becomes a Stereoscopic 3D image. I've seen it, and it really works! How clever! Don't be a fool and illegally download this one. You'll want to see it in person!

Overall, Menomena is one of those super-talented groups that is really pushing the envelope of what music can and should sound like. Mines is an album that, once heard, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it. It is that phenomenal. If you have a brain that is capable of 1. hearing & 2. interpreting heard sounds as music, then you will be impressed with Mines. I suggest that everyone run out and buy a copy RIGHT NOW!!



Menomena did an in store performance at Music Millennium in Portland on Tuesday. Here is a photo of the show, as well as a drawing that Craig Thompson made of the experience.

Menomena Mines available for pre-order + bonuses!

Menomena's forthcoming record Mines is now available for pre-order on CD and LP via Barsuk in the US, and City Slang in Europe. If you pre-order the record, you will get the chance to purchase a limited edition double 7 inch with B sides "Copius" and "Let Me Know". You will also have the opportunity to purchase a limited edition Glow-in-the-dark poster by Tyler Stout (the same artist that designed the Menomena Beatlejuice, Ghostbusters, & Never Ending Story posters). The above poster, which features the stereoscopic image from the album cover is also on sale, along with a nifty Menomena T-shirt. On top of all that, Barsuk is offering 5 special deluxe packages which include original artwork by drummer Danny Seim.


update: all of the deluxe packages have sold out



Tyler Stout's limited edition poster depicts a sinister scene where meth addicts vandalize and and steal the beautiful statue that sits outside of Menomena's practice space in the scenic western hills of Portland, OR. As legend goes, the statue was stolen and cut apart to be sold for scrap by a roaming gang of tweakers. The police notified local metal shops to be on the look out for the statue, and when she was eventually brought in by the notorious thieves (minus her arms, and legs, which were never recovered), it was returned to it's original place outside of Menomena's practice space. She is now immortalized in her mangled form as a stereoscopic (3d image) on the cover of Menomena's 4th full length album, Mines, and in this hauntingly beautiful poster.

For those of you who still purchase music, Mines is definitely an album worth owning. Since I have a personal relationship with the band, I was able to hear the progression of these songs as they morphed from improved ideas to highly polished songs. The amount of labor (both creative and emotional) that went into crafting this album is more than most could imagine. Please support this amazingly original band by buying their album! As a side note, "Let Me Know" is a really great song, so it is worth doing the pre-order just to get a copy of that limited edition double 7 inch. I was actually surprised that it didn't make it on the full length album.

I'm so bored that I made a blog/ Ramona Falls - Russia

Welcome to Karte Blanche, my blank check to talk about what I'm working on right now, and whatever interests me. There will be a lot of shameless self promotion, so prepare yourself for a parade of video projects, flying trapeze tricks, and posts about Ramona Falls/Menomena! For my first post I'd like to combine 2 of these focuses by directing your attention to a little music video that I edited & post supervised for Ramona Falls. It is for the song "Russia" from the debut album Intuit. Check it out by clicking on the image below....

For those of you who don't know, Ramona Falls is an unbelievably beautiful, original, and quirky solo project from Brent Knopf, who is also a member of the experimental indie rock band, Menomena. His music is a complex and unorthodox layering of sounds, that takes the listener on an emotional journey through Knopf's infinitely imaginative mind. His songs skip seamlessly between loud and quiet, rocking and reflective, conceptual and accessible. Ramona Falls' debut album, Intuit, was my #1 album of 2009. It is definitely worth checking out.